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A Types of 2020 targets

A Types of 2020 targets

Section 3.2 described different types of targets, covering both targets under the Kyoto Protocol and pledges under the Copenhagen Accord and Cancun Agreements. Table A.1 breaks down existing 2020 targets by type. It does not include all the non-target pledges countries have made (for instance, pledges to take specified actions in the forest sector)

Table A.1: Countries’ 2020 targets

Absolute budget-based

Absolute point

Emissions intensity

Business-as-usual

Australia

All countries in first column plus

China

Algeria

Belarus

Antigua and Barbuda

India

Brazil

EU 28

Canada

Chile

Iceland

Japan

Costa Rica

Kazakhstan

Maldives

Indonesia

Liechtenstein

Marshall Islands

Israel

Norway

Monaco

Kyrgyzstan

Switzerland

Moldova

Mexico

Ukraine

Russia

Republic of Korea

New Zealand

United States

Singapore

South Africa

Total: 39 countries

47 countries

2 countries

11 countries

Share of world emissions:14 per cent

Share of world emissions:39 per cent

Share of world emissions:30 per cent

Share of world emissions:10 per cent

Source for emissions figures: WRI CAIT database, 2011 data, not including land use change and forestry emissions

The table illustrates the types of targets different countries have adopted. Thirty-eight other countries have made pledges but do not have quantified targets, and 96 countries have not made pledges. The former group generally have both low capacity and low emissions, including some least developed countries, and collectively account for less than 4 per cent of global emissions. On the other hand, countries without pledges of any kind make up 20 per cent of global emissions and would therefore seem to be deserving of more attention.

Currently, most countries using market mechanisms to meet their targets have budget-based targets (New Zealand is an exception; Japan may be too if it decides to count units from its bilateral offsets crediting mechanism towards its target). It is clear how markets contribute to a budget-based target—the units a country purchases effectively increase its budget (and to avoid double-counting, are not counted towards another country’s target). It is less clear how markets contribute to a point target (for instance, whether emissions units from years other than the end point year count) and not clear how units could be used towards the other target types. This is one reason to encourage countries to take on budget-based targets, and may also be an area that requires elaboration in the post-2020 framework.